As Mayor Adams Looks to Stack Rent Board, Tenant Groups Press Potential Appointees to 'Refuse'

"Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams is weighing new appointments to the Rent Guidelines Board in an effort to block Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's pledged rent freeze. But finding candidates willing to take the post-and face the wrath of tenant groups-could be a tall order. As outgoing Mayor Eric Adams weighs appointing new members to the city's Rent Guidelines Board during his final weeks in office, tenant groups have a message for any potential candidates: Don't take the gig."

"Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has pledged to appoint an RGB that will vote to freeze rents for the city's 2 million tenants in rent stabilized apartments-a key measure in his campaign's affordability platform. Carrying out a rent freeze would be harder to do if Adams makes any last-minute changes to the board, where several current members are serving in "expired" terms, meaning they could be reappointed or replaced by the mayor at any time."

Outgoing Mayor Eric Adams is considering appointing new members to the city's Rent Guidelines Board during his final weeks to block a proposed rent freeze. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani pledged to appoint an RGB that would vote to freeze rents for roughly 2 million rent-stabilized tenants. Several current RGB members hold expired terms and could be reappointed or replaced, allowing Adams to change multiple seats before year end. Potential replacements include two public members, one landlord member, and one tenant member. Tenant advocacy groups organized as the Rent Justice Coalition urged candidates to refuse and warned of protests.

Read at City Limits